Monday, June 14, 2004 | 10:45 a.m.
Gaming analysts say the latest reforms in Great Britain's gambling regulations will make opportunities less attractive to most U.S. operators and equipment companies.
A British government agency today said it concurs on 121 of 139 reform recommendations outlined in a scrutiny committee report on a draft gambling bill issued in April.
While the concurrence on the legislation by the United Kingdom government's Department for Culture, Media and Sports would likely put the bill on a fast track to passage by the British Parliament, gaming analysts concurred that it limits some opportunities for American operators.
A Las Vegas company doesn't see it that way and says today's developments complement its strategy with British partners.
A spokesman for Harrah's Entertainment Inc. said today a joint venture with British bingo operator Gala Group Ltd. works well with gaming reforms being proposed because one of the key issues -- a cap on the number of slot machines that would be allowed -- is high enough that the ventures would remain profitable.
Harrah's spokesman Gary Thompson said the Department for Culture, Media and Sports recommendation of a 1,250-machine cap at regional casinos would enable Harrah's and its partner to operate within their strategy.
"I don't know why they (analysts) would say it's less attractive to U.S. operators," Thompson said. "The number of slot machines proposed in the cap -- 1,250 slots -- that's more than we have at the Rio."
Harrah's and Gala plan to develop between eight and 10 regional casinos with between 30,000 and 50,000 square feet of casino space. The Rio, he said, has 1,187 slot machines in 107,000 square feet of casino space.
"It basically fits right into our plan to develop a joint venture with Gala," Thompson said. "We'd love to have something like the Rio in Great Britain."
Representatives of Isle of Capris Casinos Inc., Biloxi, Miss., and Las Vegas-based MGM MIRAGE and Las Vegas Sands Inc., could not be reached for comment. Those companies also have been lining up deals in Britain in anticipation of legislation liberalizing the nation's gaming laws.
Several gaming analysts issued reports today on the developments in Britain.
"Overall, the response document is a mixed bag, with the reduction in slot ratios being counterbalanced by the higher probability of the bill passing into law in its entirety and in a more timely manner (the first half of 2005)," said a report by Mark Abramson, an analyst with Bear Stearns, New York.
"In addition, we believe that the direction of the reforms increasingly favors the incumbent operators and may deter the new entrants in the medium term," the report said. "In sum, the DCMS (Department for Culture, Media and Sports) recommendations reduce the attractiveness of the UK market for large U.S.-based gaming companies and reduces the scope for slot machine sales."
Abramson's report said the key changes recommended by the DCMS are that the number of slot machines allowed per table game in small casinos has been reduced from three to two; large casinos will be allowed five machines per table instead of eight, up to a cap of 150; and, definitions for regional casinos were altered, but the slot machine cap limit remained at 1,250 machines.
In addition, the DCMS has suggested implementing problem gambling studies every three years and Las Vegas-style casinos would only be permitted in the largest regional casinos.
archive
